"Handicapping" describes the process of creating an environment where players of different abilities can engage in balanced competition. This is usually accomplished by making the competition more difficult for players with advanced skills or by making the competition easier for players with lesser abilities.
In dart competition, there are currently several methods of handicapping players, all of which are based upon player averages. The method depends upon the type of average used. Two types of averages are "points per dart" (hereafter, "PPD") and "marks per round" (hereafter, "MPR").
The PPD average is used in a variety of dart games, but primarily in '01 games, where a player begins with a first score (e.g., 301, 501, 701, 1001, etc.) and progresses downward to a second score (typically, zero) by hitting a dart board with darts. The game ends when a player reaches exactly the second score. In such games, a player normally throws three darts per turn. When a dart hits the board, a certain number of points are taken away from the player's score based upon which area of the target the dart lands. At the end of the game, the total number of points that a player has earned by hitting numbered areas is divided by the total number of darts that the player has thrown. The resulting number is the player's PPD average: Total Points Scored/Total Number of Darts Thrown.
The MPR average is typically used in Cricket games, where a player is required to hit certain targets on the dart board to score points. For example, the segments 15-20 may be the designated scoring targets for marks. The first player to hit all of the required marks and who also has the highest point total wins the game. In such games, a player throws three darts each turn or round. The MPR average is calculated in two steps. First, the number of rounds played is calculated by taking the total number of darts thrown by the player and dividing by three (the number of darts per round). Next, the number of required marks that a player hit during the game is divided by the number of rounds. The resulting number is the player's MPR average: Total Marks Hit/(Total Darts Thrown/3).
The PPD or MPR averages can be calculated based on an individual game, a match (i.e., a series of games), or a player's lifetime history.
In some handicapping systems, players are divided into groups based on their PPD average, MPR average, or estimated skill level. Each group or level is assigned a certain number, usually from zero to six, which becomes the assignment of a "spot dart" handicap. When a player is assigned a spot dart handicap, the opponent is permitted to throw that number of darts to earn points or marks before the handicapped player gets a chance to throw any darts. For example, a scheme for assigning spot darts when using the PPD average may work as follows:
PPD=1-20.fwdarw.Assign 0 spot darts PA0 PPD=21-40.fwdarw.Assign 1 spot dart PA0 PPD=41-60.fwdarw.Assign 2 spot darts In another spot dart scheme, the handicapped player must give the assigned number of darts to their opponent.
Other known handicapping schemes include "spot point" handicapping and "spot mark" handicapping. In these two methods, the handicapped player and the opposing player receive the same number of darts, but the goals that they need to achieve to win the game are different.
For example, when using spot point handicapping in the game of 301, the object of the game is for each player to take their score from 301 points to exactly zero points. If a player has a higher PPD average than his or her opponent, then the higher average player will need to earn the full 301 points to reach zero. However, when using the spot point handicapping feature, the opposing player will start the game with a lower score, such as 235, and thus only needs to earn 235 points to win the game. Alternatively, spot point handicapping may be used to "increase" the point total that the higher average player starts the game with (e.g., 350, instead of 301), while the lesser skilled player begins play at 301 points. Regardless of whether the better skilled player's score is increased or the lesser skilled player's score is decreased, the formula used to calculate spot points is selected so that if each player performs according to their average, both players would reach zero on the same dart throw number (e.g., on the 12th dart thrown, 14th dart thrown, etc.).
Spot mark handicapping is used primarily with Cricket games, where a player needs to hit marks on specific targets. The player with the higher MPR average is required to hit all of the specified marks to win the game, whereas the player with the lower MPR average starts the game with marks already scored, and therefor does not need to hit all of the specified marks to win.
Player handicapping is important to ensure that opposing players in dart leagues or tournaments are evenly matched. In dart leagues, careful records are kept of player scores, and player handicaps are continually updated with new score data to ensure that handicaps are accurate. However, it often occurs that one or more players on a team cannot be present for a particular match up against an opposing team, and that a substitute player fills in for the absent player. Other times, a team player drops out of the league, and the spot is filled by a new permanent league player. The new or substitute player may not have a known handicap, and is thus an "unranked player." The conventional approach to this problem is to assign a league default average to the unranked player. The league default average is standard across the entire league, and is used for all new or substitute players. For example, the league coordinator may set a default PPD average to be 25.0.
The conventional scheme for handling unranked players introduces significant unfairness into league play since the default handicap is theoretically selected to be only an average of all unranked players. Since unranked players actually fall along a distribution curve of averages, only a small percentage of unranked players will actually have a handicap close to the default handicap. Thus, one team or the other has an unfair advantage when an unranked player is used. If the unranked player is a new permanent league player, the unfairness is reduced for subsequent matches since the new player's handicap is calculated after the first match is over. However, the unfairness associated with substitute players occurs for every match which uses a substitute player.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved handicapping scheme which minimizes unfairness associated with unranked players. The present invention fulfills such a need by providing a rolling or floating handicap average for unranked players.